1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a plant supporting structure and, more particularly, to a plant watering trellis.
2. Description of the Prior Art
It is well-known that certain plants need to be supported during their growth. This is a particular concern for certain vegetable plants, such as tomatoes, which become too tall and heavy with the growing vegetables for their stalks to provide effective support. It may also be desirable to lift the vegetables off the ground for more effective growth and to keep them clean and disease-free.
Many arrangements have been provided for supporting plants during their growth, from simple stakes to which the plants are tied, to more complicated structures which support the plants without tying and through which the plants intertwine while growing. Some plant support structures may also provide for watering or feeding of the plants during their growth cycle. Examples of prior art arrangements are shown in U.S. Pat. Nos. 1,361,464; 1,903,122; 3,559,339; 3,638,814; 3,793,771; 4,073,091; 4,610,106; 4,616,442; 4,922,653 and 4,763,440.
While many of these prior arrangements do provide adequate support for and/or watering of the growing plants, they have a number of disadvantages which reduce their usefulness. Many of the devices are complicated structures which are expensive to manufacture and difficult to assemble and disassemble. In addition, many of the devices are not readily collapsible into a small, easily handled size, and storage of the device in the non-growing season becomes a problem. The watering type supports are generally stand-alone devices which require their own supply of water.
It is, therefore, an object of the present invention to provide a plant support which also permits easy and thorough watering of the plants. It is a further object of the present invention to provide such a plant support in an arrangement which is not complicated, is inexpensive to manufacture and is easy to assemble and disassemble. It is also an object of the present invention to provide a plant support in an arrangement which is lightweight and can be readily stored in a small bundle when not in use, yet is strong enough to support a plurality of growing plants. Finally, it is an object of the present invention to provide a plant support that can carry water from a single water supply to a plurality of plant supports in an interconnected series.